Convertible wearing apparel



Dec. 15, 1964 M. M. SEMONS CONVERTIBLE WEARING APPAREL mmvron Mam/m N. SEMONS BY 3 mm F M ARCH AND Qua-r1 ss ATTORNEYS Dec. 15, 1964 M. M. SEMONS CONVERTIBLE WEARING APPAREL 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 16, 1961 uvmvrm Mam/m N. SENONS MARCH AND Cum-ass ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,160,892 CONVERTELE WEARING APPAREL Miriam M. Semons, 202 E. 38th St, New York 16, N.Y. Filed May 16, 1961, Ser. No. 110,563

7 1 Claim. (Cl. Z-BS) This invention relates to wearing apparel and more particularly to a fabrication of a sheet formed of material suitable for personal wear which is made to be used in open sheet form and also as a garment when'folded and fastened in a folded condition.

It is not broadly new to form a piece of cloth fabric or the like cut to pattern and provided with fastening means whereby the piece of fabric will fit the contour of a part of an individuals body when draped thereover and fastened together. This has been done to provide, for example, a sleeved sweater formed in one open piece and detachably fastened at the front end along the sleeve portions; and in providing a head scarf which can be used as such or folded in one manner for use as a dickey or in another manner for use as a sports-wear brassiere.

The present invention comprises a fabrication made of material suitable for personal wear which can be used in open sheet form or folded and fastened in a folded condi tion to form a garment. It is characterized and distinguished from the known art by the fact that it is not cut and patterned to fit a specific body contour nor does its mere folding and fastening shape it into a garment. On

. the contrary, itsfolding and fastening render it suitable to be draped over the shoulders and arms of the wearer and permit it to be manipulated then to form one or another of several styles or types of garment such as a cape,

stole, jacket, beach robe, etc. This is accomplished by forming the sheet of material in substantially square outline and providing fastening means to hold it in a folded condition, the fastening means'being so located on the sheet as to provide hand and wrist openings through 0pp0 site ends of the folds while leaving the main portion free to remain folded or to be partially unfolded and draped and fashioned into the desired style of garment.

The objects and features of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art from a study of the disclosure in the accompany drawings and the detailed description thereof which follows.

In the accompanying drawings, the invention has been shown merely by way of example and in preferred form and obviously many variations and modifications may be made therein and in its mode of application which will still be comprised within its spirit. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or embodiment, except insofar as such limitations are set forth in the appended claim.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view of an open sheet of material, showing the locations of fastening means to hold the material I when in folded condition;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing the sheet partly folded;

"FIG. 3 is a view in cross-section, when completely folded;

FIG. 4 is a front view, showing the folded sheet being worn as a scrape;

FIG. 5 is a front view, worn as a plain jacket;

FIG. 6 is a rear view, showing the folded sheet being worn as a stole; and

FIG. 7 is a rear view, showing the folded sheet being worn as a jacket having a collar.

As already stated, the present invention comprisesa fabrication made of material suitable for personal wear which can be used in open sheet form or folded and fastened in folded condition to form a garment. Thus, as

showing the sheet showing the folded sheet being side margin '11, 12, 13 and 14. The material of which the sheet 10 is made can be a cloth fabric made of natural,

or synthetic fibers, fur or imitation fur, or a water repellent material such as vulcanized rubber, plastic or treated fabric or fur.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, fastening means in the form of detachable snap fasteners 15 are secured to the sheet 10 in sets along opposite margins 12 and '14 of the sheet. However, other forms of fastening means having detachable complementary elements may be employed such as buttons and but-tonholes, buttons andloops, hooks and eyes, or patches of cohesive fabric which hold together when brought into contact with other. An important feature of the present invention is the relative location of the complementary fastening elements, regardless of the type employed. 7

The sheet 10 is shown as being divided into three panels 16, 17 and 18 marked off along fold lines 19 and 20 extending between the margins 12. and 14, the panels being elongate in the direction in which the fold lines extend. It will also be noted that the center panel 17 and the right-hand pwel 13 are approximately equal in breadth or width, and the left-hand panel 16 is of substantially less breadth. The reason for this is that when folded (see FIG. 3) and fastened together there is formed a hand and wrist aperture 21 between the folds in thearea of the margins 12 and 14. V

The panels 16, 17 and 18 are not actually marked off on the sheet 19 but they are determined by the location of the complementary elements of the fasteners 15. To this end, three female elements 25 of a snap type of fastener are secured to the front face (visible in FIG. 1) of the sheet 10 along each of the opposite margins -12 and 14 7 within the limits of the left-hand panel 16, and their male complements 26 are secured in line therewith within the limits of the center panel 17. As shown, the elements 25 and 2d are about equally spaced apart and thus theelements 26 farthest to'the right occupy positions equidistant from the'side margins, 11 and 12 and more than half, but less than two-thirds, of the distance between said side margins. Hence, when the panel 16 is folded (FIGS. 2'

and 3) and the elements25 and 26 are fastenedtogether, the margin 11 lies considerably to the left of the fold line 29.

' Secured to the rear face of the sheet 10 within the limits of the panel 16 are three more of the female elements 25, spaced apart about the same distance as those elements 25 on the front face or" the panel 16. These three female elements are adapted to be snapped to three male elements 26 secured to the front face of the sheet 10 within the limits of the'panel 18 when the latter is folded to overlie the previously folded panel 16 (see FIG. 3). Accordingly, with one element 26 located close to the margin 13 and the spacing between the three elements corresponding to that of their complements on the rear face of the panelrlfi, the grouping of said three elements-is closer to the margin 13 than it is to the fold in margin 11, thus providing Patented Dec. 15, 1964 made for a hand and wrist aperture therethrough.. The uses to which this simple and economical structure can be put will now be set forth.

Referring to FIG. 4, the sheet in folded condition can be draped over one shoulder and worn as a serape. This unit is draped over the shoulders (FIG. 6) with the panel 18 next to the body of the wearer so that the margin 13 is disposed at the top or about the neck when viewed as in FIG. 6. The margins 11 and 13 are not fastened and the arms of the wearer can be readily inserted between the margin 13 and the panel 16 and the hands extended through the apertures 21. When wornin this manner, the garment will take the form of a stole as appears as in FIG. 6. For more complete coverage it is only necessary to grasp and pull downon the panel 13 midway of its length, at the same time manipulating the unit to cause the center portionof the panel 18 to droop. It is pointed out that When the unit is draped over the shoulders and down the length of the arms the free margin'13 tends to fall toward a straight line position around the wearers waist from wrist to wrist, and the jacketstyle can be obtained by holding the unit along the fold line 19 (at the neck line) and shaking out the panel 18. An added and more dressy effect can be obtained'by forming a collar 30, which is done by folding outwardly and downwardly a few inches of the material of the panels 16 and 17 along the fold line 19 at the back of the neck.

The foregoing constitutes an inexpensive application of the invention. On the other hand, the sheet 10 may be formed of materials ranging fromthe inexpensive grades through the best grades of cloth fabrics and furs, real and imitation, water repellent or not. The one item can be used in open condition as a covering such as a blanket, lap rug or cape, and, if made of suitable material, it can be used as. a furniture throw-piece. Whatever its use in open condition, merely by folding, fastening and draping it can become an attractive garment formed into one of several diiferent styles.

While in the preferred embodiment the fasteners are of the snap variety and arranged in groups of three, it is to be understood, of course, that the number of fasteners employed is selective. If only one fastener Were to be used'instead of each group of three, then in'each set along the opposite margins 12 and 14 there Wouldbe a first element 25 located near the margin 11, its comple ment 26 located near the fold line 20, a second element 26 located near the margin 13, and its complement 25 located on the rear face of the panel 16 near the fold line 19. Should buttons and but-tonholes be employed,

there would be a button located near each of the margins V 4 11 and 13 and a button hole near and to the left (FIG. 1) of each fold line 19, 20, i.e.,one buttonhole approximately midway of the length of each of the margins 12, 14 and another buttonhole approximately midway between said one buttonhole and its complementary button near the margin 11.

As already stated, a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described and many modifications and variations thereof may occur to one skilled in the art. Therefore, the appended claim is not to be construed as restricted to the embodiment described herein except to the extent that limitations are expressly recited in the claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A garment adapted to be worneither as a short length stole or as a readily adjustable longer length jacket comprising a substantially rectangular .imperforate sheet of readily foldable material, said sheet being adapted to fold about a pair of spaced transversely extending foldlines to define a three-ply oblong unit including a middle ply, an outer ply connected to said middle ply about a foldline extending along oneend thereof, and an inner ply connected about a foldline extending along the other end of said outer ply, and fastening means connected along the opposed marginal edges of each ply which extend normal to the fold lines of the said plies, said fastening means including a first element connected to each side of said middle ply along the opposed narrow edges extending normal to the fold line thereof, and a complementary fastening element connected to the opposed narrow edges which extend normal to the fold line of said inner and outer plies, said respective complement fastening elements being connected to the side of each inner and outer ply facing said middle ply whereby said complementary elements of the inner and outer plies are fastened to the cooperating first elements of the middle ply when Worn as a stole, and whereby only the cooperating fasteners of said inner ply and middle ply only are secured when Worn as a jacket thereby permitting the length of said jacket to be adjusted in length by pulling down the unfastened free edge of'said inner ply a desired amount.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,496,283 Wright June 3, 1924 1,509,296 Hopewell Sept. 23, 1924 1,661,768 a Marshall Mar. 6, 1928 1,736,594 Hart Nov. 19, 1929 1,916,068 Nyhagen June 27, 1933 1,963,659 Gregory June 19, 1934 2,603,788 Page July 22, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,089,435 France Sept. 29, 1954 657,985 Germany Mar. 18, 1938 

